Posted
by
Unknown Lamer
on Wednesday June 06, 2012 @09:31AM
from the doomed-no-matter-what-you-do dept.

ananyo writes with a story about more concrete plans for a reduced or nuclear-free energy future for Japan. From the article: "It's official: nuclear power will have a much smaller role in Japan's energy future than was once thought. Since the meltdowns and gas explosions at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station in March 2011, all of Japan's remaining reactors have been shut down for inspections and maintenance. The government offered a glimpse of their future, and that of the country's nuclear power in general, when it published an outline of four ways to satisfy Japan's future energy demands. One scenario recommends using a market mechanism to determine the nuclear contribution. Under the other three, nuclear power would supply at most one-quarter of Japan's energy by 2030 — and in one case, none at all. The scenarios come from a 25-person advisory committee to the industry ministry. The sharp reductions in the nuclear power part of the country's energy mix mean that Japan will struggle to reach the 31% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions that it had planned by 2030 (PDF)."

Nuclear power will only do serious damage to the environment if mistakes are made. Fossil fuels will damage the environment no matter what. I wonder if there is any logic behind Japan's decision or if this is just some politicians cashing in on public fear.

Ironically, part of the fossil fuel damage is also radioactive. Coal contains trace amounts of thorium, uranium, radium, etc., which are simply released into the atmosphere -- far more radiation than any nuclear facility would be allowed to release in normal operations. Advocates of some Gen-IV reactor designs claim that there's more nuclear energy potential in these waste particles than is produced by the coal-fired plants that release them.